Where’s my fridge? Best Buy taps AI for live delivery tracking

Best Buy customers can now get up-to-the minute updates to find out when that big-screen television will be delivered or when a new fridge will arrive for installation thanks to AI technology.

On Thursday, the electronics retailer debuted the live tracking feature for large deliveries, which can be accessed on Best Buy’s mobile app and website. With the help of predicted demand and real-time traffic pattern data, the Richfield-based company says the new feature will help reduce delivery lead times and result in customers having a more accurate and updated time of product arrivals down to the minute.

“Our new live-delivery tracking experience removes the frustration so many of us have felt when we’re given a window of time to wait around at home for an appointment or a larger delivery to arrive,” Brian Tilzer, chief digital, analytics and technology officer at Best Buy, said in a statement. “We know our customers’ time is extremely valuable, and we’re proud to bring a level of convenience to technology delivery and installation that nobody is currently providing.”

Best Buy has created several AI-enhanced tools over the past few months including a module for customer service agents that helps assess customer conversations and summarize dialogue. This summer, Best Buy also launched an AI-powered virtual assistant to help customers troubleshoot issues with products and changes to delivery among other issues.